first make sure that if you are hooking them up directly to another (no hub or other such device) you are using a cross over cable.

the you can set up your tcp/ip

machine 1 IP:

IP 192.168.0.1
subnet 255.255.255.252
Default GW the other machine's IP (used with ICS or internet routing)

Machine 2 IP:

IP 192.168.0.2
Subnet 255.255.255.252
Default GW (if this machine is ICS or internet routing - leave this blank, otherwise set it to the other machine)

also - set your administrator password to be the same on both pcs - this way you can log into either machine and view the admin shares (\\servername\c$...)
if that works - then thier talking, and just need to create a user account (if needed)